Belen Eagles relay team is golden at state track meet

Albuquerque 

Passing the baton from one runner to another, and from generation to generation, Belen has an impressive history of success in girls relay races.  

That tradition continued Friday and Saturday at the 4A State Track & Field Championships at the University of New Mexico Track & Soccer Complex.  

Twenty of the Eagles 25 points in the girls’ competition came from relays, starting Friday morning with the very first event on the track, the 4×800.   

“We were all really nervous because we all know what we are capable of,” said Angelica Romero of her teammates, Lisette Sanchez, Avery Carter and Sara Martinez.  “All the nerves ended up translating into energy.”  

Sanchez ran the lead leg, talking to herself along the way.  

“I was just telling myself the whole time, ‘I want it and I don’t want to be disappointed in myself.’ If I ever felt tired, I told myself I wasn’t tired.”   

Eventually, it became a two-school race between BHS and perennial power Los Alamos. Martinez had the baton for the last lap, going stride for stride with the Hilltoppers.  

“Everything kind of went blurry, like tunnel vision,” Martinez said. “I don’t really remember it too well.”  

She does recall crossing the finish line first, edging Los Alamos 9:53.94 to 9:54.33.  

“I was super excited, but I also wanted to pass out,” she said.  

Belen also earned points by placing second in the 1600 sprint medley relay (Emma Chavez, Madison Cox, Sophia Cox and Martinez), sixth in 4×200 relay (Chavez, Jhatziry Perez, Cox and Cox) and sixth in 4×400 relay (Cox, Martinez, Sanchez and Cox).  

Reaching the podium in individual events for BHS was Sophia Cox, fifth in 200 meters, her sister Madison, fifth in 400 meters, and Carter, sixth in 3200 meters. 

In the 4A team battle, Belen was sixth with Los Alamos taking the top spot. The Valencia girls earned eight points, all coming in the weight events, all from Nizhoni Apodaca.    

The Jaguars’ senior started Friday with a discus throw of 115-1 to take third.   

“It’s mostly about technique,” Apodaca said. “Your foot placement and how fast you’re going, and your hand placement to make sure your disc isn’t wobbly.”   

Saturday, Apodaca would have another third-place performance, this time in the shot put (37.6).   

In 5A girls, Eldorado and Rio Rancho shared the team title. Los Lunas scored one point behind a sixth-place finish by Mckaylee Burt in the 800 meters.  

“I wanted to pace myself and push harder at the end, and it worked,” said Burt, who set a personal record (2:28.09) by four seconds.  

LLHS junior Dominique Armijo had little down-time during the state meet after qualifying in five events — 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and two relays.  

“It can be difficult because I’ll be out of breath, even just walking to one of my events,” Armijo said. “But I just know I have my family and my friends watching. I do it for them.”  

For Los Lunas and Valencia seniors, it was a pressure-filled weekend no matter how many events they were in. On Saturday, just across the street at the Pit, graduation was being held. LLHS in the morning, VHS in the afternoon.  

For Valencia’s Victor Ramirez there was “a little bit of panic” because of graduation.  

“It’s kind of like a motivating factor,” said Ramirez, who scored the Jaguars’ only boys’ points with sixth-place finishes in both the 400 and 800 meters. “The quicker I run, the quicker I’m done. The quicker I can go walk,” the diploma-line.  

Ramirez will next compete for Portland State.    

LLHS pole vaulter Jacob Prewitt missed his graduation because of his specialty. Any regrets? 

“Honestly, no. I’d rather be here,” Prewitt said. 

Despite a nagging hip injury, which limited practice time, Prewitt managed to clear 12-0, tied for sixth place. However, Prewitt didn’t make the podium because of the tiebreaker.  

“I’m happy with how I did today. I could have done better, but it’s not bad,” he said.  

Los Lunas did not score points in 5A boys, won by Cleveland. Belen had three points in 4A, behind Ivander Wilson, who finished fourth in the shot put. Los Alamos captured the team title.